Innovating with Video on Campus

Whenever a learning institution adopts a new knowledge sharing platform, two key drivers almost always determine the ultimate success of the system.

First, learning to use the system has to be simple. And second, the system needs to deliver something of actual value worthy of the users’ time and not already available elsewhere.

For Northwest University, those needs were no different. In searching for a video content management system, the school sought something that students could adopt right away. After carefully reviewing Panopto, university staff saw two major advantages over other video platforms.One was its usability. The other was its functionality.

Making Video on Campus Useable

“With Panopto, you don’t need a huge technical staff to make it happen. You can set it up for your faculty members so it’s almost goof-proof,” said Dr. Kowalski, professor at Northwest University. “Now basically users just fire up Panopto, pick the session name and hit the record switch. It is really easy to use.”

Panopto makes video easy with an intuitive interface and a one-click recording and sharing process. It uploads completed recordings instantly into a secure video library, automatically formatting each in an easy-to-use, easy-to-share MP3/ MP4 format, with links to recordings that can be posted online. Professors can create recordings and make them available within minutes of completion, and students aren’t made to wait weeks for lectures to be shared or to purchase specialized equipment or devices to watch the video.

Students particularly appreciate the iPhone app that allows them to watch the lectures while on the go—on devices they already own and are already comfortable with.

Making Video on Campus Functional

“We wanted a solution where the faculty members didn’t have to spend a lot of time making it work. We also needed a solution that could be delivered to students in a format they could use, but that didn’t kill the classroom experience. Panopto could do all those things for us,” said Dr. Kowalski.

Panopto is an all-in-one video platform used for recording, editing, sharing, storing and organizing videos. This means that professors can record their lectures right along with their PowerPoint slides and other multi-media presentations, creating rich media recordings that mimic the classroom experience. They can also add a lecture transcription and additional notes that appear alongside the visual presentation.

Panopto videos can be easily trimmed and edited using the browser-based media editor. They can be remixed and synced with additional videos, slides or other media. They can be shared via Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites, and viewers can search within them to find the precise segment that they’re looking for.

Panopto’s integration to the open-source learning management system Moodle was another huge plus for Northwest. Already the main university repository for student and course materials, Moodle was a big part of Northwest’s existing technological infrastructure. It also provided students with one centralized, online location for all their courses—and now, it still can be.

School administrators also appreciate the insight Panopto provides them to viewing statistics for their videos, including number of views, number of minutes viewed, most-viewed videos, and more. They also enjoy access control integrated with their LMS, which helps them maintain control over who can view and edit the library of videos. And Panopto’s developer APIs help school officials perform custom authentication and integration, automate user management, and run custom reports.

With Panopto, Northwest is able to not only create lecture recordings, but to edit, share, store and manage them, too—all in one place. Want to learn more about how Northwest University uses video across campus? Check out our newest case study.